The Little Penguin is the littlest penguin. They grow to about 30cm in height, and are distributed in colonies around the south of Australia and New Zealand. There is a large colony of them on Phillip Island, which is where I was today. Since the 1920s the nightly parade of penguins up the beach has been a tourist attraction. A tourist centre and boardwalk has been constructed so that people can come and watch the penguins while doing as little as possible to disturb their habitat.
So on a cold, wet and windy winter night, I made the drive to see the penguins on parade.
We got there early to make sure that we didn't miss a moment, but we nearly did anyway. The wind whipped cold rain into our faces, and the ranger told us that it was best to look in the direction that the wind was coming from. We almost missed the first brave little penguin make landfall.
It was such a tiny creature, and in the dark it might have been easy to miss. But as the penguin stumbled to shore, it was spotted by several observers. It stood for a moment on the shore, as though taking stock of where it was, then decided it was all too much and raced back for the sea, throwing itself into the waves as if to say "Nope! Too cold! Too windy!"
The action of the waves could not be denied, though, and it stumbled to the shore once more. Once more the wind got the better of it and it dove for the sea again. Finally on the third try the penguin made it across the beach and up into the dunes. I looked around to see how many of the people on the blustery shore had seen it, and almost no-one had. They were too busy hiding their faces from the icy rain and trying to stop their $5 plastic ponchos from blowing away.
It was almost another ten minutes before the next penguins came ashore. This time it was a raft of some fifteen or so little birds, and they were not nearly so hesitant. More penguins came ashore in small groups, all huddling together for warmth. After a while we started to hear them squawking at their fellows from their burrows in the dunes, encouraging the newcomers to join them where it was warm and safe.
After half an hour, many groups had come ashore, and the dunes were ringing with their calls loudly enough to be easily heard over the wind. We watched as two or three came ashore by themselves, without the safety of numbers. They seemed wary of the seagulls. I don't know if seagulls kill little penguins, but the penguins did not want to cross the beach while the gulls were there. Fortunately for the ones we saw, the gulls started arguing with each other, and the penguins crossed while they were distracted.
By this time we were sniffling and though we were wearing waterproof jackets, we were not wearing waterproof pants or shoes, so we were wet from the waist down, and cold. We started to return to the visitor centre along the boardwalk. Many penguins were scattered around in the dunes. Many more were still looking for a place to get out of the wind.
We saw one little guy come right up to the fence, as though to say "Hello, human!" We crouched to observe, but we were careful to remember that this was a wild bird. These penguins were not domesticated, or tame, and would bite our fingers if we stuck them through the fence. I got the distinct impression that it was waiting for us to do so. I suspect that we wouldn't have been the first, but we declined the penguin a taste of human.
It was unfortunate that though there were many signs on display prohibiting photography, and the rangers repeated "no photos or videos" constantly, some humans thought that the rules didn't apply to them and tried to get photos anyway. Photos weren't allowed, even without a flash. Animals that have been spooked by a flash in the past will still be spooked by the sight of a camera, even if there is no flash. And again, these are wild animals, and should be left alone as much as possible given that there was already a huge amount of human activity all around them. But camera flashes aren't something that a wild bird becomes readily accustomed to.
I was very happy that I can add this experience to my collection. I can now say that I have seen the penguins on Phillip Island. Sure, it would have been nicer without the wind and the rain, but the penguins didn't care, so why should I?
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